Royals add to Tigers' misery

Royals add to Tigers misery - The West Australian

Claremont have slumped to their fifth defeat of the season after falling victim to a rampant East Perth by 80 points at Medibank Stadium this afternoon.

The Royals were considered strong favourites going into the fixture and didn’t disappoint, kicking the first five goals of the game.

What looked to be a thoroughly one-sided contest was rescued briefly by the Tigers, who brought the deficit back to just 15 points at the first break, but the fightback proved unsustainable, with the home side kicking 7.3 to one behind in the second term to put the game to bed.

Royals co-captain Brendan Lee (31 disposals, one goal) was prolific in the 19.10 (124) to 6.8 (44) win, as was Steven Payne (28 disposals, two goals), with West Coast squad members Sam Butler, Pat McGinnity, Brant Colledge also strong contributors in a dominant midfield.

Thomas Taylor (28 disposals) tried hard for the visitors and Sandover medallist Luke Blackwell (29 disposals) was also strong on a day when the Tigers had few winners.

The win sees East Perth stay third on the ladder, equal on points with leaders Subiaco and second-placed Swan Districts.

Claremont, meanwhile, sit just two games clear of last place with Peel still to play this round.

The Tigers looked keen early in the match and created a number of opportunities, but butchered their chances.

East Perth on the other hand were far more accurate, kicking five goals from their first five shots through Payne, Paul Johnson, Lee and Josh Hill.

Ryan Neates kicked the Tigers’ first at the 21-minute mark and late inclusion Matt Davies added another three minutes later to give the game the illusion of a contest.

The bounce of the ball in the second term signaled the opening of the floodgates as East Perth mounted attack after attack to bludgeon their opposition into submission.

By half-time the margin had blown out to 60 points and while the Tigers would eventually rally to kick four more goals, the result proved inevitable.